China would expand its digital mapping coverage to most of its prefecture-level cities by the end of 2015, said a senior official with the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping (the Bureau) Thursday.

Li Weisen, deputy director general of the Bureau, told Xinhua that 120 cities and districts at the prefecture level would be covered by the digital mapping network by the end of this year, and the network would be extended to most prefecture-level cities by the end of 2015.

Digital mapping would feature the cities' geographical characteristics, roads, river systems, properties and addresses of street locations, among others, both for public information and for government agencies, said Li.

The overall objective is to build the network into a national public service platform on geographical information, Li added.

(Xinhua News Agency November 5, 2010)